What's the difference between consumption-based and resource-based pricing?

[Ernest_Dong]

I see two billing models on this page and wondering:

• does the resource-based model mean I have to pay for ECU of kibana node even if I'm not doing analytics?
• does the consumption-based model mean I wouldn't need to pay for the node running kibana(for example) when I'm not doing analytics?
• and which model most people use?

Thanks

[stephenb (Stephen Brown)]

Hi @Ernest_Dong

Yes it can be a little confusing

All this below assumes you are referring to Elasticsearch Service

There is actually three billing models.

1. Monthly direct

2. Monthly through a marketplace

3. Prepaid consumption.

All three you pay for the resources you use. There is no flat rate.

The key is this sentence

Prepaid consumption is built on four key concepts:

It is not an either / or ...the concepts build on each other

You prepay for consumption

It is a consumption model not a flat rate.

Consumption is based on the resources you use.

You purchase elastic consumption units which are then drawn down based on the resources you use

...

To answer your question about Kibana Yes you pay for every resource with the exception of there are a couple free resources.

Example a 1GB Kibana is free.

All this is just a really long way of saying you pay what you use. If you use a little you pay a little. If you use a lot you pay more

If you go to the pricing calculator you can see this.

cloud.elastic.co/pricing